05 August, 2008

Sounds like something you heard one of the characters in a Greek/Latin movie yelling ?

Ah ! Welcome Aboard. :D

Well, it’s not as if I’ve not heard that exclamation before. It’s just that it is being repeated with incessant regularity by the elder sibling. It is not a “thingy” anymore. Thingy is simply out of vogue. When referring to something which absolutely has a name in English – a name commonly used, a name that the parents would easily understand and identify with, a name that is commonplace – the elder sibling chooses to exclaim with a rather exuberant flourish – That Thingummajigie !!!

What “Thingummajigie” the elder sibling means is known to her and her alone. By the time we figure out what the said object is, she probably would have dropped Thingummajigie and moved on to some other exclamation which is “in vogue”.

The other day she was narrating an incident that took place at school when she was in Year 2. Yo – why the flashback, I ask ? Stay with the present, young lady. This is me – the me who does not remember fully what happened yesterday and now I’m supposed to remember the names of the kids in her class in Year 2. Thank the Lord it was not something that happened during her Kindergarten years. I would have been so completely floored !!

While narrating the above incident, the elder sibling goes “When people go upsy downsies …..” Upsy Downsies !! What in God’s name is that now ? Apparently it is a phrase (self coined, of course) that is said to indicate “a person going up and down the stairs numerous times”. Hence the plural in “downsies” – explained the elder sibling. “That way I don’t have to say up and down so many many times” says the elder sibling with a flourish and a grin – throw in a sideways look with repeatedly batting eyelashes – and the picture is complete !!!

Oh God !! This is way beyond me.

Reminded me of what a very dear friend had once said. She’d said “G – she’ll be using phrases like these with you and you will be gaping like the deer that is caught in the headlights”.

Well, my dear, it is indeed happening !! :D

The “aw shucks” which was being used rather regularly earlier on has now been replaced with a newer version “aw shoot”. I am quite sure that the “oo” actually stand for some other alphabet but as of now it is still being pronounced “oo” and is yet to be replaced by some other alphabet from the alphabet train.

Nowadays, there are a lot of things which give the elder sibling “the heebie jeebies”. There are also things which give her “the jeepers”. Why Jeepers ? Why not Tractors ? I asked her once and what I got in return was an extremely horrified look. “Where did Tractors come from ?” she asked, nose all scrunched up, eyes as wide as saucers and lips twisted beyond description.

The “Awwwwright” which was being used earlier on has just gotten longer and is now an “Awwwwriighhtyyy”. And yeah, the Awwwriiighttyyyy is also followed by a “Whaateeverrrr”. The important thing is not to say just “whatever” and leave it at that. One has to drag the ‘r’ like Jerry drags Tom, looking like a dishrag, all over the house. And at the same time, one has to twist and curl the ‘r’ so that it sounds like one is speaking with one’s face submerged in a tank full of water.

Try it – you might probably succeed in intoning the “whaaaateeevvverrrrrr” the right way !!!

Good Old Boring is not Boring anymore. It is “bawwwrrrriiinnnnngggggg”. And trust me when I say that the resonance and echo that the word “baaawwwriiiiiingggg” creates – is something that would put humungous temple bells to shame.

When something goes wrong – why in the name of God should one say something as boring and colorless as “Uh Oh” when there are more colorful alternatives available – such as “Mammmmaaaaa Miaaaaaaaaaa” or better still “Cheeeeseeeeeee Nibletttttttttsssssss”

The first time I heard "Cheeesse Nibbletttssss" I honestly thought it was some crispy available in the supermarket because these kids – once they start primary school – turn into some kind of self proclaimed quality controllers of all sorts of junk food that is available in the market.

Food is not “delicious” any more. It is “yummyliciously deeelicioso”. Would not one word do – to convey the meaning, I mean ? Does it have to be as long as an engine with a caboose attached to it ? Does it mean that the longer the expression, the more delicious the food ?

Waiting to see which such exotic linguistic bit gets throw one’s way is like walking in as the opening batsman against the West Indies and waiting for the bouncers to begin bouncing off you.

Honestly, there is only so many words that my brain can remember and compute. And everytime one such new “expression” makes its way into the dictionary inside my head, I’m sure another word must be exiting my head as well. Now that I have words like “thingummajigie” and “cheese niblets” and the like finding a slot inside the few grey cells that I have left, I wonder which sensible words have taken leave of my grey cells.

About Me

I don many hats - a daughter, a wife, a mom to two (and still sane, by the way) and a full time teacher, to mention a few.
Writing has always been one of my passions and continues to be my mode of expressing my feelings, thoughts in my personal space.
This blog was essentially started, way back in 2006, to pen down the little tidbits,memoirs of The Nutty Siblings - Macadamia and Pecan's childhood.
Now, with the kids having grown up, the blog has indeed become a space where I pen down my thoughts as and when they demand to be penned down.
I love satire in all its aspects and of late, have embarked on a satirical journey on this blog, with regard with TamBrahm weddings. Many parts have already been penned and there are many more to come.
As life’s train chugs along, bringing along with it our share of the good’s, the bad’s and the in-between’s, as the kids grow up and we grow older, the little chronicles on Tiny Tidbits will hopefully continue to serve as those little windows , a little time machine that takes us on a humorous, engrossing trip, back in time.